You're lucky you had that teacher. From time to time, I have a student who gets up to speak and cannot say a word. It turns out that they blew a speech in a primary school grade or high school and decided never to speak again. I encourage them not to let their eight-year old self make decisions for their 22-year-old self -- or not to let the teacher they hated in grade 5 continue to control them in college. That seems to be a transformative idea.
It is amazing how much of an influence teachers can have on a persons life. All it takes are a few great ones to help positively steer a child in the right direction. I was lucky to have some that saw passed my smart-alecky ways. I bet you're a great one. I had a "fundamentals of speech" class as a freshman in college and we had to give a speech on someone that was influential in our lives. I gave mine on my high school American Lit teacher Mr. Messmore. I had worked hard in his class and I really enjoyed it. -two things that were rare for me. Mr. Messmore saw that and therefore allowed me to have the last month of his class essentially "off". He let me read what I wanted and just had casual conversations with me about it. He treated me like an adult. I confided in him that I wasn't sure I would pass enough classes to graduate and he encouraged me and helped me with other classes. When I received my HS diploma, Mr. Messmore was on the stage and looked over at me and gave me a thumbs up and a big grin, he knew how hard I worked to be on that stage. When I was finished giving the speech about Mr. Messmore's impact on my life there was a women in the front row crying and she said regarding Mr. Messore, through her tears "who is this man, I have to meet him". I realized then what a well delivered presentation can do. I was able to make a women cry from a speech about a teacher that was influential to me. -That's powerful stuff. Those that can communicate the most effectively end up being the leaders of our societies. It's true. What you are teaching your students is incredibly important.I encourage them not to let their eight-year old self make decisions for their 22-year-old self
-Easier said than done sometimes.
Never thought of it as a tough name to have. It's pronounced Mezzmore which is probably why. But even if his name was Mr. Poopypants he would likely have escaped the wrath of the teenagers he taught. He is a gifted educator and has a rare ability to connect with the individual while instructing the group. He, like any good leader, recognized that each person has different things that motivate them and he would teach to that. Actually, who am I kidding, nobody could escape ridicule with the name Mr. Poopypants. Interesting question: What's the strangest name you've encountered? Mine is our HS principal Richard Bologna. That's right, his name was Dick Baloney.
Strangest name or rudest name. My daughter's elementary school principal was John Leek.
From time to time I have an unfortunate student whose last name is pronounced Jerk Off, but it's spelled with djerkov. give askhubski a rattle on that question. I still have to watch your collections podcast.
Old Wooden Ass, I love it. Kids are fucking creative. I went to Catholic school my freshman/sophomore years of HS. Father Rahee was a visiting priest from Lebanon that taught us theology for a year. He always referred to Jesus as "the Master". I convinced the class that after every time he said "The Master" we would in unison say "BADER" as loud as we could. He was furious and we did it all year. He reverted to calling Jesus "the lord" or "our father" but out of habit he would revert back to "the Master" and we never missed the opportunity. Thanks for the memory.